lipid-a and Lyme-Disease

We were unable to demonstrate the presence of the classic enterobacterium-type lipopolysaccharide in the cells of the Lyme disease spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi B31. This finding was primarily based on chemical analysis and the absence of free lipid A upon mild acid hydrolysis of the appropriate cell extracts. These results do not preclude the possible existence of an unusual lipopolysaccharide-like compound(s) in B. burgdorferi.

Topics: Borrelia; Borrelia burgdorferi; Lipid A; Lipopolysaccharides; Lyme Disease; Polysaccharides, Bacterial

A lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was isolated from the Lyme disease spirochete by a modification of the hot phenol-water method. The material was composed of 45% carbohydrate, 8% protein, 44% lipid A, and 1% 3-deoxy-D-mannooctulosonic acid and accounted for approximately 1.5% of the cellular dry weight. The isolated LPS possessed several biologic activities characteristic of endotoxins. The LPS was pyrogenic for rabbits, mitogenic for human mononuclear cells and murine splenocytes, capable of clotting limulus lysate, and cytotoxic for murine macrophages. LPS extracted from Borrelia burgdorferi by the petroleum-ether:chloroform:liquid-phenol procedure was also characterized. The results show that the Lyme disease spirochete contains a hitherto unknown LPS that is biologically active in vitro, and the expression of such activities in vivo may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Lyme disease. Some of the clinical manifestations of other spirochetal disease may be explained by similar endotoxins in those organisms. To our knowledge this is the first report of an LPS extracted from a spirochete that is known to be a human pathogen.

Topics: Animals; Bacterial Proteins; Borrelia; Borrelia burgdorferi; Carbohydrates; Cell Survival; Fever; Humans; Limulus Test; Lipid A; Lipopolysaccharides; Lyme Disease; Lymphocyte Activation; Macrophages; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Rabbits; Sugar Acids